@Baldimo,
They did not send in the military in response to an incoming migrant caravan. Both Bush and Obama sent in the National Guard to shore up the border control until immigration legislation could pass. Both talked about why they were sending troops to the border, which btw way was not going to be up to 15,000 troops.
Quote:
OPERATION JUMP START, June 2006-July 2008
WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID: “For decades, the United States has not been in complete control of its borders,” Bush said. “As a result, many who want to work in our economy have been able to sneak across our border, and millions have stayed.”
In announcing the operation, Bush called on Congress to pass “comprehensive immigration reform.” Using rhetoric very different than Trump’s, Bush called immigrants without legal status “a part of American life.”
“These are real problems. Yet we must remember that the vast majority of illegal immigrants are decent people who work hard, support their families, practice their faith, and lead responsible lives,” he said.
HOW MANY TROOPS: Up to 6,000 Guard members in the first year, reduced to 3,000 in the second year.
WHERE: About 2,400 were sent to Arizona in the first year, according to a 2008 review the Guard published about the operation. Another 1,500 were sent to Texas that year, 1,200 to California, and 900 to New Mexico. The Guard members came from all over the United States.
WHY: Bush said he was trying to buy time to bolster Border Patrol staffing, which eventually grew by about one-third. He said the troops would assist Border Patrol by “operating surveillance systems, analyzing intelligence, installing fences and vehicle barriers, building patrol roads, and providing training.” He said Guard members would not assume law enforcement responsibilities and that the U.S. “is not going to militarize the southern border.”
Quote:OPERATION PHALANX, July 2010-Sept. 2011
WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID: “We’re not going to solve the problem just solely as a consequence of sending National Guard troops down there,” Obama said. “We’re going to solve this problem because we have created an orderly, fair, humane immigration framework in which people are able to immigrate to this country in a legal fashion; employers are held accountable for hiring legally present workers.”
HOW MANY: Up to 1,200 Guard members initially, though some remained in operations that continued beyond the initial deployment.
WHERE: About 560 members were sent to Arizona. According to Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar, the head of the National Guard in Arizona, all four Southwest border states supported the operation with their own Guard members.
WHY: Obama said the Guard could “help on intelligence, dealing with both drug and human trafficking along the borders” and free up Border Patrol to handle more law enforcement duties.
NYP
